UPPER RHINE, MID 15TH CENTURY

The wood casket offered here is from a series of caskets carved in the upper Rhine region in the 15th century. Usually carved from fruitwood and mounted with iron they are often decorated with heraldic motifs or dedicatory inscriptions above complex lattice-work backgrounds. The present lot, together with another version sold in Sotheby's, London, 5th October 2000, lot 23, and another in the Baden-Württembergisches Landesmuseum are particularly interesting in that they depict bands of prancing mythological beasts. This secular and overtly non-religious iconography is reminiscent of the images found on middle Byzantine ivory caskets depicting hunting scenes but which ultimately has its roots in the grotesque border designs found in medieval manuscripts.